October 16: Helping Roy

I am sure that all Persians join me in expressing our appreciation of all your efforts for the young Persian boy.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
letters thumb (photo credit: )
letters thumb
(photo credit: )
Helping Roy Sir, - I have been reading about the plight of a young Persian boy, nicknamed Roy, in the Iranian press. In particular, I have read how he was, exceptionally, granted entry into Israel, despite all the political hostilities surrounding the two states of Iran and Israel. I wish to congratulate the staff and esteemed doctors at Tel Hashomer Hospital for doing all they can to bring peace and normality to this boy's life ("TA doctors continue trying to help Iranian boy," October 13). I am sure that all Persians, no matter where they are located, join me in sincerely expressing our appreciation of all your efforts, and warmly shake every Israeli's hand. Well done, all of you. MASSOUD HOSSEINI Virginia Prognosis poor Sir, - If Egypt is prepared to sacrifice an Egyptian child with cystic fibrosis to avoid cooperating with Israel in procuring the drug he badly needs - as Barry Rubin noted in "Why the Middle East is sick" (October 13) - how can we possibly place Gilad Schalit's fate in Egypt's hands? ("Defense officials: Cease-fire removes pressure on Hamas to release Schalit," October 15.) DAVID GOSHEN Kiryat Ono Time to let go, no? Sir, - Re Manfred Gerstenfeld's "Dresden victims and German manipulations" (October 15): While the number of victims of the Dresden bombing in February 1945 has long been disputed - the official figure standing somewhere between 35,000 and 135,000 - Gerstenfeld failed to mention other, indisputable facts related to that event, such as that the US Air Force joined the RAF in razing Dresden to the ground, including the famous cathedral. Its total destruction reminded me of the destruction of Britain's Coventry Cathedral by the German Luftwaffe earlier in the war, in November 1940. Since then Britain has built a new cathedral in Coventry alongside the old destroyed one, in which two words - 'Father, forgive' - have been inscribed. They indicate that Germany and Britain have come to understand the need for atonement as a first step toward reconciliation. In the case of the Jewish people, here too the Germans, by their policy of Wiedergutmachung (making good again), have displayed a constant and indisputable willingness to put right the terrible wrong they did to the Jewish people by the Holocaust. Nothing has changed on that score, and so the trouble with Gerstenfeld's article seems to me to lie in his willingness to highlight, so dramatically, distorted texts by insignificant revisionist historians. It is time to let go. It is time to reconcile. DR. LILY POLLIACK Jerusalem Absurd example Sir, - "I wonder if they will start to arrest Jews who eat and drink during the month of Ramadan," Knesset member Ahmed Tibi is quoted as saying, absurdly - showing also his lack of respect for Jews and support for Arab/Muslim rioting. Jamal Taufik was not arrested for driving on Yom Kippur, but for provocatively driving in a Jewish neighborhood while playing loud music from his car ("Acre's Yom Kippur driver arrested as city stays quiet," October 15). AHARON GOLDBERG Hatzor Haglilit Strike this idea! Sir, - "Universities will not open for new academic year, MKs told" (October 13) included the words "students also support the idea." I am a law student at Bar-Ilan University, going into my third year. I am not in support of this idea, neither is anyone I have spoken to. We have had strikes for the past two years of my degree, and this is wrong! No one seems to want to take responsibility. The universities blame the government, the government blames the universities, and the students blame everyone else. I'm wondering about the legality of the universities not opening on their supposed starting date, what with thousands of students - who have already paid for a third of the year - having a contract with the universities for their services. MAYER WINKLER Givat Shemuel A worrisome control Sir, - The reality of an American radar system set up in the Negev is worrying because such an installation will allow the US to control any defensive Israeli action against its neighbors. The defense of Israel will consequently be totally in the hands and subject to the approval of the US military establishment - and its approval of any action will obviously be granted only if it coincides with American policy and suits US political interests. The US will deny this, but assurances are easily issued. It is the facts that matter. The US wants to demonstrate that the security of Israel will not be put at stake? It should liberate Jonathan Pollard, who was, and still is, a victim of the conflict between the security of Israel and US policy. This should be a precondition before such a powerful radar station is allowed to operate on Israeli soil ("X marks the spot," Yaakov Katz, October 3). ROBERTO JONA Torino, Italy Did someone say.... Sir, - Gerard Heumann has performed a great service in pointing out the failures in the town planning of the capital ("Who designs Jerusalem?" October 13). Instead of the uniqueness of the city being recognized, the city has become a free-for-all in which both common sense and esthetics are ignored. In the early days of the British Mandate, a town plan was drawn up recognizing Jerusalem's uniqueness; special sites were designated as points of observation of the Old City. Today the greatest failure has been to totally ignore the environmental aspects of letting buildings extend upwards two or more storeys without consideration of the impact on either adjoining residential buildings or the neighborhood. For the former, vital daylight has been cut as new buildings get higher; for the latter, the inevitable extra parking in the adjoining streets has clogged up what were pleasant residential areas. COLIN L LECI Jerusalem ...town planning? Sir, - One would have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to notice the planning, zoning and environmental eyesore within Jerusalem. The city has been highly politicized for years, resulting in bad management and poor municipal leadership, to the detriment of ratepayers' quality of life. Did we need monstrosities such as the towering Holy Land development; the exorbitant expense and questionable value of projects such as the light rail and its bridge; the construction of luxury housing that will create a ghost town and possible financial disaster; the ugly tower blocks built to house the ultra-Orthodox which could become future slums, and the continual building around commercial areas that has led to gridlock? The city of Jerusalem is drab, dreary and depressing. It will require a new leader with stature, foresight and intestinal fortitude to correct the monumental mistakes of the past. JACK DAVIS Jerusalem Money matters Sir, - I cannot believe that in the October 13 edition of the Post you did not include the stock market prices of the previous day, nor even the Money Market currency listing. There has never been a day in recent history where this information was so important, coming as it did amid the world market crisis and being the only trading day on the Israeli Stock Exchange in a seven-day period. More important to your readers than "Who designs Jerusalem?" is "Who can afford to live in Jerusalem?" JACKIE KLEIN Modi'in